The present disclosure relates generally to wellbore operations and, more particularly, to a slip bowl load transfer system.
In oil and gas well operations, long strings of tubular members, such as pipes, are inserted into and removed from wells at various times. When tubular members are inserted into a well, a tubular member is attached to the top of a tubular string and the string is lowered into the well. When tubular members are removed from a well, a tubular member is removed from the top of a tubular string and the string is raised from the well. Depending on the depth of a well, a string of tubular members may be thousands of feet long and many tubular members may need to be attached to or removed from the string to complete an operation. Particularly in snubbing and heavy workover operations, operator error, or mechanical malfunction of the slip bowls can cause the tubular member to either fall into the wellbore or be ejected from the wellbore, depending on tubular load direction. And consequences of slip bite failure can be very serious.
Therefore, it would be desirable to be able to minimize operator error and to improve the safety involved in attaching or removing tubular members in such operations.